Alaska's Sarah Palin gives her autograph to a young girl as her husband Todd stands beside her June 28 at the Pella Opera House. That was her second visit of the year to Iowa. (The Register/Andrea Melendez)

The appearance by Alaska’s Sarah Palin at an Iowa tea party event on Saturday is now up in the air.

“It is in fact on hold,” confirmed Becky Beach, a Des Moines Republican who arranged for Palin to headline the state GOP’s premier annual fundraising event in 2009. Palin and Beach have since become close friends.

Beach told The Des Moines Register this morning that Palin is now uncertain whether she will speak at the Saturday event, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a field in Indianola used for an annual hot air balloon festival.

“She’s still coming to Iowa and then going from here to New Hampshire,” Beach said.

Palin is scheduled to attend a rally by a different tea party group, the Tea Party Express, at a New Hampshire rally on Monday, which is Labor Day.

As for the Tea Party of America event in Iowa, Palin had nothing to do with the organization of the but simply accepted an invitation.

“She still might very well speak at the Iowa rally,” Beach said.

At the very least, she will make a separate appearance in the Des Moines area.

The person said Ms. Palin’s appearance was “no longer confirmed” and cited “continual lying” from event organizers at Tea Party of America, including a recent mixup over whether former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell of Delaware would also speak.

Ms. Palin is known for last-minute schedule changes that whipsaw supporters and media across the country. But the latest decision is puzzling. Ms. Palin’s speech at the rally was viewed as her most high-profile appearance of the summer, fueling speculation she was indeed plotting to run for the Republican presidential nomination.